Gateway to Ancient Greece and the Aegean Islands
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PORT OF THE MONTH By Richard Varr um B.C. The Acropolis Museum, opened in 2009 and an active archae- thens breathes history thanks to reminders at nearly every street ological site, boasts an outstanding collection of youthful male and corner. From almost any vantage point, views of the Doric- and female statues known as, respectively, kouroi and korai. And the AIonic-columned temples of the hilltop Acropolis are hard to miss, Ancient Agora’s Stoa of Attalos is home to key finds from antiquity. especially when illuminated at night. Greek god figurines cram store Cruise travelers embark their ships at Piraeus—a port since ancient shelves alongside hand-painted Greek vases, Byzantine-style icons and times—located a bout six miles southwest of the city. Also serving cargo Spartan helmet souvenirs. For visitors to this capital city, considered the vessels and daily ferries to the Aegean islands and other destinations, cradle of Western civilization, it doesn't take long before three things the port is the largest in Greece and one of the Mediterranean’s busiest, become apparent: ruins, artifacts and the colorful trappings of traditional serving upwards of one million cruise ship passengers and 20 million Greek culture. total passengers each year. Port statistics show 643 cruise ship calls in While the first two are set in stone, so to speak, at the many archaeo- 2019. Each terminal has tourist bus parking for shore excursions organ- logical sites and museums, what makes a visit even more memorable is ized by the cruise lines or local tour operators. Tour choices range from the immersive cultural environment. From restaurants with classic Greek Athens highlights to farther-afield sites such as the seaside Temple of cuisine, for example, waft aromas of grilled souvlaki. One hears the Poseidon at Cape Sounion and Temple of Apollo at ancient Delphi, and unmistakable plucking sounds of the eight-stringed bouzouki in back- places on the Peloponnese peninsula. The most popular option is a city ground music. Packages of Kalamata olives, spices for flaky tiropitas tour that heads straight to Athens’ signature tourist attraction, the (triangular pastries) and keftedes (meatballs), and boxes of honey-soaked Acropolis, with stops at museums and in the Plaka, or Old Town. baklava hang from racks in shops along busy pedestrian streets. ATHENS In fact, no trip to Greece would be complete without a stop to see the Although the city’s archaeological sites with their stone columns Acropolis’ aging temples. The main structures were built during the and chipped ruins continue to gradually crumble from industrial pollu- Classical period in the 5th century B.C., considered the pinnacle of tion and weather, the Greeks have saved countless precious artifacts ancient Greek civilization, a time when Plato, Socrates and other that offer vivid glimpses of ancient civilizations, remnants showcased philosophers walked Athens’ streets. in several world-class museums. Dominating the display cases are “The meaning of Acropolis comes from akro, which means high, and painted Greek vases—some so well preserved that it's hard to believe po lis, which means city,” explains tour guide Koula Vasiliki. “The ruins they’re 3,000-plus years old. The National Archaeological Museum, were within a religious area for worship of the goddess Athena. The Greece’s largest museum, has artifacts dating back to the 7th millenni- Greeks used to gather with celebrations during summer holidays with games for the gods.” Standing on the highest point of the Acropolis, the Parthenon, built between 447 and 438 B.C., is Greece’s greatest Doric temple and a monument to its place in history as one of the finest temples in the ancient world. Richard Varr GATEWAY TO ANCIENT GREECE AND THE AEGEAN ISLANDS Cruise Travel March/April 2020 Cruise Travel March/April 2020 10 11 As seen in Cruise Travel® magazine, March/April 2020; © 2020, Lakeside Publishing Co., LLC, Gurnee, Illinois, USA; all rights reserved; used with permission; www.cruisetravelmag.com Photos by Y. Skoulas/Greek National Tourism Organization Richard Varr Richard Varr Must-see sights in Athens include the Parliament building in Syntagma Square (shown here with Lycabetus Hill) and Temple of Olympian Zeus. The Erechtheion, distinguished by its Porch of the Caryatids, is one of the most memorable sights at the Acropolis. The statues are replicas. Reaching the flattened hilltop involves a politics and government activities. Highlights talkative politicians. with the feel of a Cycladic village, was settled store owner.) Perhaps my most unusual find icons. One shows me what he claims is a 115- moderate hike. Once at the top, beware of include the rounded Tholos, where Athens’ The Plaka and adjacent Monastiraki neigh- in the 19th century by Peloponnesian War was a chess set with Greek gods and a round year-old Zeus sculpture (priced at 120 euros), uneven and worn rocky pathways that have City Council met, and the hilltop Temple of borhood make up Athens’ pulsing historic refugees from the island of Anafi, just east of board. (“This is an ancient Greek game while another wants 10 euros for a small become slippery even in dry conditions. Hephaistos, the Agora’s best-preserved struc- center, where views of the Erechtheion— Santorini. played like chess, but you have to think of it Athena figure alongside a most unusual, hand- Visitors first walk through the Roman-era ture. The reconstructed Stoa of Attalos, an especially striking when bathed in floodlights in circles, which makes it more difficult. The sized metal fly. Curving metal olive branches Beule Gate and then uphill again to at night—dominate the cityscape. onastiraki sits just northwest of the Old best players in the world practice with this,” have become a popular jewelry choice with the Propylaea, a grand entrance adja- Along the narrow streets and city Town, its streets skirting clusters of says the saleswoman.) How to play it? women as hair decorations, which I find along- cent to the small and well-preserved squares is a sprinkling of Byzantine Mboth ancient Greek and Roman ruins, includ- Instructions are included. side bracelets with eye designs. “It protects Temple of Athena Nike, built as a churches—small chapels emblazoned ing the Roman Agora with the remarkably On a nearby street rimming the grounds of you from bad energy,” says the vendor selling tribute to the defeat of Persian with saintly icons in stone interiors. well-preserved 1st-century B.C. Tower of the the Ancient Agora, vendors clutter tabletops the bracelets. “If someone thinks bad things invaders. Dominating the splateau i Dating back to the 12th century A.D., Winds. The octagonal, 40-foot-high marble with yet more goddess statues, jewelry, leather about you, it reflects it back.” the colossal Parthenon, one of the Panagia Gorgoepikoos is dwarfed structure was built as a water clock and weath- handbags, crosses, watches, old coins and Among ancient Greece’s greatest struc- world’s greatest temples, which once next to the Mitropolis, the marble- er vane with carved caricature reliefs repre- housed a 40-foot-high chryselephan- walled, 19th-century Cathedral, senting winds blowing in from different direc- tine (gold and ivory) statue of the which is the official church of the tions. Nearby, stately Corinthian columns Cruising the Aegean goddess Athena, the city’s namesake. Bishop of Athens. The centerpiece of remain from Roman Emperor Hadrian’s No trace of the statue remains today, a small square along the grand pedes- Library, a 2nd-century A.D. complex. Like a Greek but a smaller Roman-era version is in trian Ermou Street is the 11th-century Come lunch- or dinnertime, I head to the so- the National Archaeological Museum. Kapnikarea Church, dedicated to called “Souvlaki Row” string of restaurants Ruins of the smaller Erechtheion the saint Empress Ilene, who ruled leading off Monastiraki Square. Outdoor stand on the supposed site where the Byzantium at the turn of the 9th tables with umbrellas and awnings line the nar- gods Poseidon and Athena battled for century. A short walk down Ermou row, courtyard-like street as diners flock for naming rights to the city. The high- Varr Richard leads to Monastiraki Square and the skewers of grilled chicken, pork, lamb and light is the Porch of the Caryatids with Tourists throng the Plaka, Athens’ atmospheric Old the domed, 10th-century Pantanassa beef. Gyros sandwiches stuffed with onions, six figures of maidens as supporting Town district filled with tavernas and souvenir shops. Church. tomatoes, tzatziki sauce and french fries are columns. All the statues are replicas, The 11th-century Nikolaos cheap, costing $3 or $4 and often enough for with the originals in the Acropolis Museum. elongated building lined with Roman and Ragkavas is another popular church in the two meals. My favorite restaurant on Souvlaki Also key to Athens’ Classical period was Greek statues, now serves as a museum with Plaka, with nearby streets leading up to the Row is O Thanasis, where my moussaka por- the Ancient Agora, now mostly ruins. This many of the site’s remarkably preserved arti- twisting alleyways of the whitewashed tion crowded the plate along with a fresh toma- complex of temples and civic buildings, eas- facts—burial urns, voting chips and even a Anafiotika neighborhood just below the steep to-and-cucumber salad dressed with olive oil, Celestyal Cruises ily visited on foot, was a center for business, sophisticated water clock used for timing slopes of the Acropolis. This cozy district, onion slivers and spices. Celestyal Cruises’ two ships sail to the Greek Islands and elsewhere in the Mediterranean. From the square, an overhead sign leads Many shops are stocked with figurines alluding to Greece’s Classical period and hand-painted vases such as those at Workshop Electra Raikos.